


A cautionary tale (the stand alone remix)

by thisissirius



Category: Merlin - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-16
Updated: 2010-05-16
Packaged: 2017-10-09 12:10:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/87173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisissirius/pseuds/thisissirius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The living dead are attacking Camelot and Merlin doesn't know if his hands will ever be clean of blood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A cautionary tale (the stand alone remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Netgirl_y2k](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Netgirl_y2k/gifts).
  * Inspired by [A Cautionary Tale About Tomatoes (and zombies)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10761) by [Netgirl_y2k](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Netgirl_y2k/pseuds/Netgirl_y2k). 



> i hope this works as a remix. thank you to netgirl for the original fic; it's very amusing and i love it.

Merlin was used to complaining about his unappreciated job of stepping up to save the Kingdom when its own rulers had no idea what was happening.

It gave him an outlet that he wouldn't have otherwise have had and if Gaius grew annoyed with this constant outbursts, he kept it to himself. Merlin was grateful. That didn't stop him from viewing this latest bout of evil as yet another challenge to be overcome, yet another chance for Arthur to attempt to fight it off and find himself outnumbered, overwhelmed and just plain unconscious for his efforts. Merlin would never tire of saving him but there was only so much he was able to do; he didn't want to think of the consequences of his actions should he fail.

That was what sleepless nights were for.

None of them could have expected the form this latest challenge had taken.

"Zombies," Gaius said, poring over his usual mountain of books.

Merlin didn't need an elaboration for that one, although the concept was something he had trouble wrapping his mind around. They'd faced Tristan already, watched his body die in the arena, Excalibur managing to achieve what no mortal sword had been able to accomplsish. Still, the people walking through the halls did not have one specific victim in mind; they didn't care, taking down anyone they came into contact with. Gaius and Merlin had been safe up until now, Merlin dismissed from Arthur's sight as soon as he'd understood the danger and wanted Merlin out of it. Merlin still bristled at the short tone and harsh words but he could appreciate the sentiment (even though he was mostly sure Arthur would never admit to anything more than needing to put Merlin to work for the rest of his life).

"They're an army of dead people," Merlin said, voice low. He was peering around the door. The corridor was empty but he was under no illusions - there was nothing to say that they wouldn't spring out of the shadows as soon as he stepped foot outside.

"You've faced worse," Gaius reasoned, shutting the book and rounding the table.

Merlin's fingers dug into the soft wood around the door. He thought of Will, Owain, Pellinore and his father. "People always die when I try to help."

Gaius made a soft noise in the back of his throat and then rested a hand on Merlin's shoulder. "How many more will die here today if you do not attempt to at least try?"

It was nothing new; appealing to his guilt, to his sense of right and manipulating him into a situation was nothing Merlin had not faced before. He nodded stiffly and tried not to hold it against Gaius. He was doing what Merlin should be; ensuring the safety of the people, his friends.

 

 

 

Arthur was used to taking a sword to a problem and expecting it to right itself.

He didn't know what to do with an enemy that couldn't be destroyed.

"They're not dying," he said, almost to himself.

Around him the Knights were attempting to slay the creatures, but to no avail. There were too many of them closing in from the outskirts of the city. Arthur couldn't let them reach the castle gates but they had already pulled two of his Knights into their core. He couldn't risk it happening again.

Better to suffer the wrath of his father for their distasteful retreat than to suffer the press of guilt over too many deaths.

"Retreat!" He yelled, staying to the fore as they pushed back into the castle. "Retreat!"

 

 

 

Uther paced the length of the main hall, his hand over his eyes. "Where did they come from?"

His throne was propped up against the door to the room in a futile attempt to keep the zombies - and that was still enough to make the sceptic in him bristle - out in the corridor. Uther had no idea how Arthur and his Knights were faring outside but he was used to this feeling of helplessness and uncertainty. He was also aware that this reeked of sorcery and fear settled deep in his stomach. He was no fool; hating magic with a passion did not dull the reaction to its effects. Uther know how dangerous (and sometimes, glorious) magic could be better than anybody and this time was no exception.

As much as he was desperate to be out there and fighting, he knew that he had to be proctected.

He was the King.

(He ignored the small voice inside that told him that did not mean as much as it should not when Arthur was out there fighting.)

 

 

 

Gwen locked the door the instant she was inside Morgana's room. She swallowed down the urge to scream and run; Merlin had told her everything she'd needed to know and she was running even before he'd finished talking. She wasted no time crossing the room and dropping down beside Morgana's sleeping form.

"Morgana!"

It had been a long time since Morgana had suffered from her nightmares but she had never been easy to waken and now was no exception.

"Morgana, please!"

Morgana finally stirred and groaned. Gwen didn't give her time to awaken fully before she was stripping the bedclothes and giving Morgana another little shake. She was taking advantage of her special favour with Morgana.

"Please, Morgana. The dead have arisen!" Ignoring the thrum that ran through her body, Gwen guided Morgana up from the bed and into a robe.

"You're not making sense, Gwen," Morgana protested but she was moving, trusting that Gwen would not act in such a way without cause.

"We must hurry, my lady. I'll explain but you must move."

 

 

 

There were zombies everywhere.

Merlin threaded his way through the infested corridors, using the barest of magic to protect himself from any clumsy lunges and grabs. He slipped down one of the side corridors, racing the entire length and skidding right around the corner and -

\- slammed straight into Arthur.

"Merlin!" Arthur sneered, nevertheless reaching out a steadying hand. "Where have you been cowering?"

_Someone has to save the day._

"Sire," Merlin said, tone dripping with his usual contempt for the title. Arthur barely twitched an amused eyebrow at Merlin's deliberate attempto to evade the question.

"How have you not had your brain eaten yet?"

Merlin winced. He remembered the first two deaths all too well; the screams that didn't stop until the last minute, the trails of blood and the low, sinister hum of the zombies as they flooded Camelot with their numbers. Merlin had almost been prepared for the dead to rise as well as they joined the masses flowing into the grounds but he wasn't prepared for the bodies littered about the courtyard.

"-rlin," Arthur was saying, grip almost painful on his arm. "Move!"

The zombies were advancing on them but Merlin frowned. "Let go of me, Arthur. Gwen and Mo-"

"- will be fine. I sent a messenger to Gwen."

"No, you sent me. Then told me to get out of your sight and stay out of the way."

Something flickered across Arthur's face but just as soon as it appeared, it was gone. Swallowing hard, Merlin yanked his arm free.

"Come with me or stay with your Knights, Arthur, but someone has got to get arms to the girls!"

"If they could hear you calling them _girls_," Arthur muttered but he was moving.

 

 

 

Barricading themselves into the outer chamber of Morgana's room was easy. Morgana's room offered a vast array of furniture that was perfect for keeping unwanted guests - and brain-eating zombies - out of the room. They shifted the wardrobe in front of the double doors and managed to drag the large dresser in front of that.

"Are you sure that's enough to keep them out?" Morgana eyed the furniture wanly but Gwen was already reaching under the bed, fingers curling around a covered blade and pulling it out. "Gwen?"

"I hid this here," Gwen said, pulling the cloth from the sword and held it up between them. "Just in case."

Morgana's frown eased into a relieved expression and she nodded tightly. "How long before they break through?" she muttered, once again unsure about the strength and ability of the furniture to withhold an attack from the living dead. "You've seen these things."

Gwen opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by two large thumps against the door.

 

&amp;nsbp

 

"Are you sure they're in here?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "And you call _me_ the idiot? They've probably barricaded the door!"

Arthur glared at him and then kicked the door. Merlin shook his head.

"They probably think we're zombies Arthur," Merlin whispered furiously. "Kicking the door isn't helping your case."

Before Arthur could open his mouth to say something scathing, there was a growl and a scrape from the other end of the corridor. Looking over his shoulder, Merlin saw the zombies managing to get through the short barricade he and Arthur had erected. "I think we should convince the girls to let us in before we, I don't know, _die_."

"Morgana! Gwen! It's us, let us in!"

There was a scuffle and then a soft noise. "How do we know you're not zombies?"

"If we were _zombies_ then do you think we'd be stopping to ask _politely_?!"

There was another long silence that Merlin was hoping wouldn't last much longer and then the sound of scraping furniture.

"Arthur," Merlin said, his back to the door. He was staring at the oncoming zombies with something akin to horror fluttering in his stomach. He didn't know how much longer their barricade would hold and he was not looking forward to the prospect of having to use his magic. There was no way Arthur was holding back all of those zombies with his sword alone. He curled his fingers into fists and turned his head. "I don't think we have a whole lot of time."

 

 

 

Morgana pulled Merlin inside as Arthur ducked around them and then the door was slamming shut between them, Gwen already reaching for the dresser. Arthur put a hand on it and stopped her from shifting back in front of the door. "We can't stay here."

"We can't go out _there_!" Morgana pointed out, already hearing the sound of zombies echoing down the corridor. "What do you suggest we do?"

"They're not along the west corridor yet," Merlin said. He nodded his head towards the back exit.

Arthur nodded, already picking up on Merlin's train of thought. "We could use the staff corridors to break out on the rear."

"And then what?" Morgana said, waving furiously at the door. "There are _zombies_ out there and we're armed with two swords and Merlin's wit!"

Merlin glared at the back of Morgana's head and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"We'll get some swords along the way," he bit out, already imagining the bodies littering the corridors that would be both armoured and armed. It was not something he was willing to dwell on for long and nodded at the sword in Gwen's hand. "Gwen can fight; she can take the rear and I'll take the lead. Now _come on_."

 

 

 

"It's the Baker," Morgana hissed, eyes on the staircase, where Arthur was peering around the corridor.

"How do you know?" Merlin frowned, a small tingling at the base of his spine forming. He already knew.

Morgana just stared at him and he closed his eyes, shaking his head.

"Why haven't you told Arthur yet?"

"How would you suggest I do that?" Morgana said, voice tight. She could be mean, ask Merlin why _he_ hadn't. She knew he would take it; they only ever choose to hurt each other with words, not actions, but Merlin was already frowning in Arthur's direction. "He'd cut my head off the instant I told him I could light fires with my mind!"

"He wouldn't do that," Merlin said, voice tight.

Morgana's expression was akin to one someone would give a naive child. "Do you honestly believe that?"

_Yes._ She could see he believed it but she'd been planting the seeds of doubt for a long time and she had long ago learnt to ingore the part of her that felt guilty. Merlin's blind faith in Arthur was inspiring but she didn't know how to have the same.

"I'll think of something to tell him."

She didn't believe that, either, but she let him keep this for a little while longer.

 

 

 

"There has to be a way to kill them!" Merlin said through clenched teeth, sliding up next to Arthur and keeping close to his side. "Is _anything_ working?"

Arthur didn't bother to reply. He waved a hand to motion them all forward. It was almost eerie; the castle quiet and still all around them. There wasn't even the scuffle of zombie feet or echo of screams as there had been for the past few hours. It was too much to hope that they'd gone, Merlin supposed and then wrenched out a cry as a pair of hands tugged him backwards. The _smell_ was overwhelming and the scratch of nails against his skin was more painful than he had been expecting. Now he understood why they screamed.

"Merlin!" Someone was shouting his name but the word sounded as though it were being shouted through a tunnel. Merlin reached up with his hands, trying to tug the dead, stench-ridden hands away from his chest. He kicked and struggled but to no avail; the hands that held him were not used to letting go of their prey.

 

 

 

"Where do you think they took him?" Gwen asked, sword still raised as she kept her eyes on the corridor.

Arthur grit his teeth but Morgana's hand on his arm stayed his tongue. Now was not the time to get angry at Gwen, now was the time to think of a plan and get Merlin back. If he could be -

"Don't think that way," Morgana snapped, fingernails digging into the skin of his arm. "He needs us, Arthur, and he will _still be alive_ when we get there!"

 

 

 

"I'm sorry you know."

Merlin groaned and rubbed a spot on the back of his forehead, blinking. He didn't immediately recognise where he was. "Why am I still alive?"

There was a small chuckle that sounded wet, as though the owner had been crying. Or dying. "I don't know. They just brought you back here. They've never done that before."

'They' had to be the Zombies. "Why are you doing this?"

He managed to maneuver himself into a sitting position. The room was small and sparse with hardly any furniture and as he looked out of the small door, there was a distinct smell of bread. The bakery. Morgana had been right. There was a shifting beside him and Merlin started to see the Baker sitting mere meters away from him. The man gave Merlin a tired smile. "My wife Mary is very ill. There was a man in a bar and he gave the stone to me, said it would save Mary from death. I didn't know it would do this."

Merlin ran a hand over his eyes. It was always a man in a bar and it was _always_ a misconception of what the object would do. "How do you undo the spell?"

"I don't know," the man said, running the stone through his fingers. "I've been trying all morning, saying _anything_ and I can't get it to work!"

"Let me try?" Merlin said, knowing full well that he could get the magic to stop.

 

 

 

There was a sudden flash and bang and then all the zombies seemed to fold in on themselves.

Arthur, Morgana and Gwen had been on their way to the small village and paused in the centre of the courtyard. Arthur toed at one of the zombies but it didn't stir. "What the hell just happened?"

Neither Gwen nor Morgana could answer him. Arthur growled and then clenched his fingers tight around the sword.

"The baker?"

Morgana nodded. "That's where the trail of dead leads, Arthur," she lied, managing to twist her own knowledge into something akin to a reason.

"Then that's where we'll go, that's where we'll get answers."

 

 

 

The door crashed open and Arthur came through, sword raised and face twisted in anger and confusion. He hated not knowing what was going on and Merlin could well understand. Gwen and Morgana flanked him as he came into the room but as soon as their eyes had alighted on Merlin and ascertained he was safe, they were all glaring angrily at the baker. "Do you have _any_ idea what you've done?"

"Arthur, you don't understand, he didn't know this would happen!"

Arthur ignored him and advanced on the baker, sword dangerously close to the man's throat.

"Arthur, _stop_, he was tricked!"

"Merlin, what are you talking about?"

"It's the baker but he didn't know what he was doing. There was a stone and he-"

"He's a _sorcerer_."

Merlin snarled angrily and forced Arthur to look at him with his hands. "Dammit, Arthur, _listen to me_. There was a stone and he was tricked into using it by someone in a bar. This isn't his doing, he didn't know what would happen, he just wanted to make his wife well again. You know what it's like to want to help someone who's sick, don't you?"

It was a low blow but Merlin knew how to play Arthur by now, knew what was acceptable and what was not.

"I should hand you over to the King," he said slowly and Merlin started for a moment before realising Arthur was addressing the baker.

"Arthur, you can't! He'll be executed," Gwen objected.

"Be reasonable," Morgana said, looking between them.

"I have no choice." Arthur looked at the man, eyes dark with indecision. Merlin had seen that look one too many times. He also knew where this was coming from; the last time Arthur had been tricked like this he had been convinced to let a man go only to have it backfire.

"He didn't know what the stone would do," Merlin argued, resting his hand on Arthur's arm. "You can't do this to him. He's got children."

Arthur sheathed his sword but he said nothing.

"This isn't like last time. He's genuine," Merlin added. Arthur opened his mouth to speak but Merlin already knew what he would say. "Trust me."

"Trust us," Gwen said.

The baker stood slowly, still wary of Arthur. Arthur looked him in the eyes, held his gaze and then nodded slowly. "I'll be watching you."

There was an almost palpable sense of relief in the room and Merlin watched the devolution of the scene before him; Gwen and Morgana helping the baker to his feet and setting him straight and Arthur, brooding and silent, poking at the body of the dead zombie in the room. Merlin moved to join him and grimaced. "You did the right thing," he said, softly. Arthur's head turned towards him but remained silent. He sighed. "It feels like I'll never wash the blood off my hands."

"They weren't people anymore," Arthur said, diplomatically. He was learning, Merlin thought. He was getting better at comforting for practical sense, rather than out of a need to keep the other person from emoting. "They were dead - died a long time ago."

Death was a subject they didn't broach too often because it didn't bode well for the subjects they could dredge up. One day Arthur would talk about his mother without a tone of bitter betrayal carrying his words and Merlin would tell Arthur that the Dragonlord who had died was his father. One day. For now, they just didn't talk about it. It was a method that had served them (less than) well in the past and would continue to do so for as long as they both needed it to.

He looked at the zombie's face and wondered if he had known it, once.

"Stop thinking like that," Arthur said, his eyes scouring Merlin's face, as if he knew exactly what Merlin was doing. "You don't know who this is. They're not a person."

"Okay," Merlin said, just to keep Arthur from shouting. "Sorry."

"Don't apologise." Arthur shook his head angrily. It wasn't a reaction Merlin had considered but one he should have expected; Arthur would take this personally, as if the stone had been an affront against him personally instead of aimed at Camelot as a whole. "You understand that my father isn't going to be happy with this?"

Merlin nodded tightly. "Then tell him the man who gave the stone is still out there; let him exhaust his energy on finding this man, but don't take it out on the baker. Please."

There was a short silence and then, "let's just get out of here."

"There is a chance of something to eat first though?" Merlin added hopefully, trying to lighten the dour mood that had settled over Arthur's shoulders.

Arthur snorted. "You're insufferable, Merlin."

The baker had heard Merlin's request and was already hurrying to meet the needs of four hungry young adults.

"I'm a Prince you know," Arthur threw in for extra loaves, which just proved that he was willing to take advantage of the situation just like Merlin. Figured.

"Now who's insufferable?" Merlin said, kicking Arthur under the table.

Arthur moaned about Prince's scorned by their servants, Morgana flicked his hand on the table and Gwen tucked into the bread, ignoring the others. None of them would be looking forward to the clean up operation that was to follow but Merlin figured that the blood on his hands would wash away easily enough with friends like these.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to seektheinfinite, my invaluable beta, and to the remix team for all their effort and hard work.


End file.
